My memories of 9/11

I've read a lot of memories today from 9/11. I don't share mine often because it's pretty personal. I was in an airport on my way to meet my brother and sister. Standing in the middle of Amarillo International Airport, I was terrified. Not because of the upcoming event that would occur later on Sept. 11, 2001, but because I was a very sheltered 19 year old about to embark on a life-changing experience. Arriving at the airport with my family I was scared. My family was going to send me off, sir and wait with me to board the plane (you could do that prior to 9/11.) entering the airport, there was chaos. All around. Finding the large boards with cancelled written on every single flight is a visual I won't soon forget. Making my way to the front of the line took awhile to say the least. We moved to the front of the line and then the airline check in person told us air traffic had been halted. I remember thinking why would they halt air traffic in Amarillo? Them we found out it was nationwide. I was freaked out. Even at 19, what could have caused something like that? Making our way toward a bank of TVs we saw news coverage of both planes hitting the towers. I had just been to the top of the World Trade Center the year before on a choir trip. I remember my ears popping on the way up, the beautiful clouds. We finally went home. We knew flights weren't going to reopen that day. No one really knew anything. I was scared to go back home, afraid the terrorists would find me. Living in a town with an oil refinery had made me cautious I guess. I can remember watching the towers fall. That image still causes me nightmares sometimes when I get stressed. When returning to the airport three days later, everything was different. There were armed military. They were hand searching luggage. The world had stopped turning.